St. Petersburg: Language and Society

Study Abroad

In St. Petersburg, you will find an exceptionally intensive and supportive study environment.

Semester terms offer a range of topical seminars delivered in English and on topics as diverse as the arts, finance, economics, and governance. An innovative capstone project rounds out the semester.

Summer and Semester terms include a broad cultural program that introduces you to the city and its legendary concentration of culture. You'll also meet many local peers and other foreign students. Being cultured and friendly is part of the proud local identity and English is relatively common, making the city easy to navigate no matter what your current level of Russian.

St. Petersburg is especially recommended for beginner students and for those on their first study abroad experience who would like extra support in advancing their language skills and jumping into local life.

Semester Courses (Spring/Fall)

Russian as a Second Language

This is an intensive Russian language program incorporating the following features:

240 academic hours of group language study

40 academic hours of individual/paired language study

20 academic hours Capstone Project

Up to 30 full hours of peer tutoring

Students focused primarily on intensive language study will take all of the above and two electives from the list below. Students primarily interested in elective credits may reduce language study by foregoing one or more of the components listed above, but are required to maintain a minimum load of 180 hours of group language study over the course of the semester.

Electives

Unless otherwise noted, each course below is 3 ECTS (28 academic hours). All students must take a minimum of two 3-ECTS electives. Students focused primarily on electives can potentially take up to 8 electives maximum. The list below is indicative of standard semester offerings. Changes may still occur.Contact us for the upcoming course list.

Art and Humanities

Introduction to the Russian Civilization (Fall/Spring)

Modern Russian Youth Subcultures (Fall)

Literary St. Petersburg (Fall)

Modern Russian Culture and Society Through Cinema and Music (Spring)

Interactions of Art and Economy. From patronage to the creative industries. (Spring)

Overcoming Stereotypes in Cross-cultural Business Communications and Negotiations (Spring)

Theory and Practice of Translation (Spring)

Finance and Markets

Financial Institutions and Markets (Fall/Spring)

Stock Exchange Learning (Fall)

Valuation of Common Stock, Investment Styles, and Value Investing (Fall)

Financial Management of Enterprise Business Processes (Spring)

Fixed Income Securities and Derivatives (Spring)

Private Equity & Venture Capital (Spring)

Business

Competitive Marketing Strategies in Russia (Fall/Spring)

International Marketing (Fall)

Marketing and Marketing Communications in Russia (Fall)

Modern Marketing in a World Gone Digital (Spring)

Sales and Operations Planning (Spring)

Complex Development of Tourism Industry (Fall/Spring)

Event Management (Fall)

International Hospitality Management (Fall)

Doing Business in Russia: Tourism Outlook (Spring)

Project Management in Tourism (Spring)

International Human Resource Management (Spring)

Management in Small and Medium-Size Enterprises (Spring)

International Trade Logistics (Fall)

Introduction to E-Commerce, E-Business & E-Banking (Fall)

Global Energy Market: Long-Term Trends And Corporate Analysis (Fall)

Reducing Gaps in Business Communication Skills (Fall)

Cooperation and Networking in International Business (Spring)

Interactions of Art and Economy. From patronage to the creative industries (Spring)

Society and Government

Russian Political System (Fall/Spring)

Russia and the World: Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation (Fall/Spring)

The St. Petersburg cultural program focuses on the city's dramatic history and mulitple prestigious art museums. You will be given ample opportunity to meet locals and to travel outside of St. Petersburg to see even more of Russia!

Note that programs shorter than 10 weeks may not have all elements above included. All standard sessions listed will have at least 1-7 on this list.

Housing and Location

--Housing

You will live in a dormitory with other foreign students. UNECON requires that all students live in the dormitory near campus. However, it is relatively spacious and modern, with free WiFi and laundry facilities onsite. Homestay is not available in this location.

The UNECON campus is located on Griboedova Canal, just behind Kazansky Cathedral and about 5 minutes' walk from Nevsky Prospect. There is plenty of shopping, cafes, and attractions nearby and it is a very easy walk or metro ride to many of St. Petersburg’s most famous museums. The University is truly in the very heart of the city center.

--Location

Best known for its cultural tradition and gorgeous imperial palace facades, an intriguing and creative spirit is still alive in the city today. Like the countless bridges linking it together, St. Petersburg itself connects the past to present and high culture to everyday society.

Click here to read a short history of St. Petersburg up to the present day from GeoHistory.Click here to read more about what our students do while in St. Petersburg.

Research and Volunteering

SRAS supports focused research and projects, such as for a capstone project or graduate studies. Support may be in the form of advising sessions, assistance navigating archives or other resources. In many cases this is at no additional cost, but eligibility requires submission of a research or project proposal, and expectations are that output or a modified version/extract of it will be in a form available for publishing in the SRAS Family of Sites.

Informal volunteer opportunities are also possible if you want to be more involved with your local community abroad. We can connect you with opportunities to pursue independently at no cost.

Transcripts and Credit Transfer

This program is hosted by St Petersburg State University of Economics (UNECON) in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The School of Record for this program is Stetson University (Florida, USA).

Credit transfer to your home institution is usually possible. A US School of Record means that your program is supported by and documented by an accredited US university, making credit transfer relatively routine.

For more on transcripts, credit transfer, and other academic issues, click here.

* Students who study for a full academic year in any location receive a $1000 discount applied to the second semester. For academic year students the cost breakdown for the second semester is $8,810 for education costs; $1,400 for housing (which includes dormitory stay during the interim period between semesters), $275 for insurance (which also covers the period between semesters), and there are no associated visa costs (your visa will simply be extended to cover the second semester). For academic year students, the total cost for the second semester is $10,485.** Estimate is based on r.t. US East Coast departure.